LEVEL UP! - Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh (20/08/25)

Fun, frenzied, yet confusing new show brings musicals into the digital age

Have you ever asked yourself what life would be like if it were like a video game? This new musical has got you covered, as it takes a largely leisure and recreation focussed medium, and applies its fundamentals of task completion, progression and rewards to real life, exploring the notion of winning vs. losing when the stakes are so much higher than solely within the confines of a computer screen. In many ways, it opens our eyes to the fact that there may well be more in common between the two than we previously realised.

The story focusses around three gamers, all of whom have been playing online together for a while, and who find themselves stuck in the game of "life", Jo looks to get into crypto, Raff is trying to save the planet, and Bobby is just looking for a quick win. Many well known notions and tropes relating to gaming, such as lives, completion, and yes, you guessed it, levelling up. As is often the case with both gaming and real life, results do tend to vary, and success is never guaranteed.

In spite of this clever dichotomy between reality and escapism though, it's difficult not to think that Lucy Watson and Julian Kirk have stumbled and lost a few lives in getting this musical off the ground. One can't fault the design of it all, there are plenty of great fun animations, the costumes adopted by the three corresponding avatars are fab, and the score has a distinct, original feel with a wonderful mix of digital sound effects and standard instrumentation.

The cast are another major positive, vocals and acting across the board, green, purple and orange-clad avatars are all brilliant, and their close jazz harmonies, reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters, were a major highlight, but it was Eliza Bowden who was the standout, clearly revelling in the chaos she sowed, with some fabulous vocals to boot. Our lead trio, Troy Yip as Jo, London Brunelle as Raff, and Lyndan Trenholm as Bobby, all showcase particularly strong acting, and again, vocal performances very strong, plus their on stage chemistry is wonderful.

Where the musical falls down is the nonsensical, fairly muddled book and overriding narrative, which is fun but not particularly engaging, feeling half baked and like it needs to finish a few more levels for it to feel like it's been completed. Whilst the performances and visual palate gave us plenty to feel excited about, the journey these took us on was a touch dull and laborious. This is a musical that likely won't set the world alight, but it was still fun and had plenty of character about it.

★★★☆☆

"Level Up!" performs up until the 25th of August (tickets)